A Study on Educational Status and Level of Health Awareness of the Children of Urban Slums

Education means an all-round development of an individual i.e. body, mind and soul. Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body. A sound body means a good health. A good health is the production of Education. Without a good health one can’t live in peace and happiness. Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental or social challenges. Health is a subject of universal concern. According to the World Health Organization, the main determinants of health include the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person's individual characteristics and behaviors. Education is a top most determinant which includes in person’s social environment which forms individual characteristics and behavior through which people can learn to live healthy. India is a vast country with a large population and due to lack of awareness and inadequate health care facilities, a wide spectrum of diseases occurs. Factors such as clean water and air, adequate housing, food, pollution, sleeping habits, mental condition, sunlight, safe communities and roads, all have been found to contribute to good health, especially to the health of children. Haphazard mushrooming of industrial units, market places and new settlements have made Guwahati a congested city and burgeoning of slum cluster with problems of serious health diseases. It is seen that those who are literate and educate they are very aware about health issues and they know how to keep themselves healthy. So, it is the responsibility of the government to provide better education and health facilities to the children of slum areas. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the educational status and level of health awareness of the student’s living in urban slum areas of Guwahati city, and it also tries to find out the ways and means through which positive vibrations could be established to solve problems related to educational and health issues in urban slum areas.